We Nine
by 4Shame
Summary: An unexpected trip through a wormhole lands the senshi in another dimension where things may not have happened just by accident as an age old tale seems to have foretold their coming.
1. Chapter 1

_Too soon a time will tell_

_Of a classic group that fell._

_Far from the skies they clamor_

_In all their magnificent glamour_

_To reshape the bounds_

_Upon which here founds._

_To be sought for justice_

_In the midst of darkness_

_Their knowledge surprises_

_Despite the lack of likeness_

_Their hearts are solid set_

_To conquer evil's bet_

_To win their lives, who shall know?_

_But a bitter tale we each shall sew._

_Bitter yet_

_Bitter no_

_Bitter chooses thou shalt show._

The world was spinning, no picture clear as they found themselves jut into an abyss of pure chaos. Their eyes were wavering, the bodies of their comrades no longer in plain sight as gravity thrust them every which direction, violently, callously and without care. The screams that surely escaped their parched lips were stifled by the whistling sounds deafening their senses as they went deeper into the void. Clutching tightly one bright-eyed female managed to grab hold of one of her dear friends. As if life desperately depended upon it, she clung herself unceasingly on the limb of the unsuspecting girl while she prayed that the others too found someone to tie.

Her golden pigtails writhed scathingly about, nearly gaining the sharpness of newly crisp knives and without movement she remained fastened to the arm of her friend with eyes tightly shut in the whirlwind of disaster. Her body collided roughly with the frigid terrain of Earth beneath her to elicit a sharp gasp of pain. Vision impaired, she lay limply, reluctantly losing the grip she held just mere seconds ago. And slowly, she lost consciousness.

"Ahmmm," was the unearthly groan that sounded constantly from the disheveled heap strewn across the desert sands. "AHMMM!"

"Shut up already," came a rather blunt reply. "I hear you!"

Despite the vicious rendition of disapproval, the owner of the groans seemed to spring to life, her body bending at the waist to better position her eyes for searching.

"Rei?" The brunette muttered. Quickly her emeralds found the familiar raven-haired woman hunched over on all fours hacking out her lungs. "I thought we were split."

"Me too," Rei managed to wheeze out as she continued to try and clear the sand from her esophagus. "Until I heard your annoying groans."

The brunette scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief as her friend's usual sarcastic tone never seemed to fade no matter how strange the situation.

"Sorry I disturbed you," she replied. "Though I think they're nothing in comparison to your hacking."

The ebony-haired woman shot a menacingly glare in the brunette's direction but desisted as she noticed the towering woman now on both feet. Though she herself was always known to be a sure spitfire, she was a smart one and knew better than to try and scrapple with her Amazon friend. Dusting herself off as best she could, she pushed herself from the ground and stood with hands on her hips. The vast unscathed land was overbearing, mounds of sands rippling endlessly in every direction.

"Where are we?"

Neither of the two could seem to be able to think up the answer. Frustrated lines creased their furrowed brows in contemplation but it would surmount to nothing. Last they remembered they were fighting youma before the five of them were plunged unsuspectingly into some kind of vortex. Speaking of all five of them…

"Venus Creasant Beam, SMASH!"

As if caught in some unmentioned drill, the two women hastily bound in the direction of the cry. Rei was first to arrive, her sights set on a stagnant blonde who frigidly jerked around in search of something.

"Venus, what is it?" Rei cautioned, her own body tense with suspense.

She unconsciously backed herself against Venus, eyes skimming the ground in scrutiny.

"Shh," Venus hushed. "Move very slowly…THERE!"

She jumped, accidentally causing Rei to let out a vile train of fire. Astonished, Rei spun around to catch a glimpse of what Venus was looking at.

"EEK!" Rei squealed, much unlike herself. She shivered in fear, flailing with excitement to try and get away. "Mars Fire, IGNITE!"

The wall of flames missed miserably, the enlarged violet hues trembling with uncertainty.

"Venus!" She cried. "Get it!"

Nervous, Venus stuttered to catch it, her skin crawling with tremors.

"It's too fast!" She bellowed, scouring nervously for the now submerged and stealthy thing.

The two were again together, stepping lightly about them as they desperately searched for some way to end the torment. Eyes again widened, they each spotted the little black-legged creature, stinger hanging tauntingly over its lithe body.

"Get it!" Rei cried.

"I'm trying!" Venus muttered in distress throwing beams upon beams to try and fry it. With expert speed, the creature dodged each blow.

"It's getting closer!"

"I know!"

"VENUS!"

Gasping, the tall brunette finally made it to the scene, her eyes darting across the plane for the offender.

"Where is it?" She let out in exasperation.

"There!"

The two girls wrestled to hide behind the tall brunette who blinked with confusion as she witnessed the scurrying miniscule little thing.

"That?" She pointed in disbelief.

"Kill it!" Venus cried.

"Kill it?"

"Do it Mako-chan! Before it stings us!"

"Stings us?"

Makoto laughed quietly to herself, scratching the back of her head as the two continued to squirm uncontrollably behind her. With gloved hands, she padded carefully toward the small creature and let it skitter into her palms. Grinning devilishly, she faced her friends in mock innocence.

"You're scared of this little thing?" She cooed. "But it's so cute!"

"Mako-chan get it away from me! I swear I'll singe your eyebrows off if you don't!"

"Eww, Mako-chan! Why are you touching it?"

Amused, Makoto watched them make fools of themselves before she finally let the poor little creature go.

"And I thought this was a serious matter…" she drifted.

Rei huffed indignantly, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm allergic to scorpions," she said. "Their venom could kill me even if it's just one drop so excuuuuuse me for trying not to die!"

As if expecting another explanation, violet and green traveled to land on their blonde companion. She shrugged.

"I hate anything that crawls," she said shivering at the mere mention of it.

Still rather entertained, Makoto laughed heartily to which Rei was not well pleased.

"If you're done cackling like an old hag now," she stated harshly. "How bout we actually _try_ and figure out where we are."

"Ooh," Venus commented. "A little grumpy aren't we."

Before Rei could settle her vicious claws into Venus, Makoto interrupted.

"Alright, alright," she said. "Now I'm just taking a stab in the dark here but I think we're in the middle of a desert."

"You don't say," Venus grinned with a wink.

With a deep sigh, Rei nodded. "So we need to find some sign of human civilization and see if we can't find some information."

"Sounds good," Venus remarked. "But which way do we go?"

Their faces drained of color as the realized just how endless this desert was. How were they supposed to know which direction would lead them to human contact? Each girl gulped nervously, their dry throats reminding them of another issue.

"You guys didn't happen to bring a bottle of water by chance, did you?" Makoto asked wryly.

The silence was enough to answer her question, the sweltering heat caressing their glazed skin as they contemplated their next move.

"Well," Venus spoke. "I for one nominate Rei to give us our direction."

"What?" Rei bitterly spat.

"I agree," Makoto chimed in.

"Mako-chan!" Rei reprimanded. "How am I supposed to know which way to go?"

"You're psychic," Minako stated plainly. "So use your psychic abilities to point out the way."

The lackadaisical reference to Rei's spiritual ability was insulting, offensive even but she disregarded the comment as her anger seemed to stir even more dryness in her throat which she could do well without.

"This is stupid," she mumbled but turned nonetheless trying to find some kind of unseen link or pull to a certain direction. With eyes shut, she concentrated turning nearly a complete ninety degree angle before stopping. "This way."

Whether she actually believed this was the right way to commence walking, she was uncertain but she sure as hell wasn't going to just sit around and bake in the sun without making some type of progress.

"You think the others are okay?" Asked Minako with a small frown.

A comforting hand was placed at her shoulder, the friendly green eyes glistening with reassurance.

"I'm sure they're fine."

* * *

The walk was grueling, each senshi hardly able to stay focused on their path. Their legs were numb, their arms were numb, everything was numb but they pushed forward nonetheless. No fight before had left them in such a drained state, each girl slowly succumbing to the buried insanity shifting in their brains. Even their uniforms were beginning to tremor, threatening each minute to completely leave them in the elemental fabric that they came.

"I wish Sailor Mercury was here," Venus mumbled, staggering slightly in her walk.

"You're not the only one," Jupiter agreed, lazily wiping sweat from her brow.

The day seemed to last forever, the sun never once ceasing its pulsing heat waves.

"Being the senshi of fire is no help in even this situation," Mars groaned, wincing slightly at the scratching in her throat.

"No?" Venus remarked, truly piqued with interest by this revelation. She stopped in her place to think more on that topic but immediately was left dumbfounded. Her body waved uneasily until her eyes just rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed.

Mars and Jupiter's fatigued bodies couldn't comprehend even the swiftest movements as they struggled to stagger back to Venus' now civilian state. Her spaghetti strapped white tank was drenched with sweat, seeping steadily even into the fabric of her striped blue high shorts.

"Sorry guys," she frowned trying to get up but Jupiter stopped her.

"You've got no shoes," she pointed out warily. "I'll have to carry you."

Not allowing a single word of protest, Jupiter heaved Minako with the assistance of Mars onto her back.

"I'm sorry," Minako kept repeating to which Jupiter constantly shook her head.

"Is that—"

Jupiter and Minako's eyes darted forward trying to catch what Mars might have seen.

"I think it is," Minako coarsely whispered.

"Thank God," Jupiter muttered wobbling unhealthily onward.

Minako's brows scrunched as she stared at the loosely defined outline ahead.

"I think it's a clown…"

"I hate clowns," Jupiter frowned.

"A clown?" Mars grimaced. "Damn, it must be a mirage then."

"No," Minako said. "I think he's real."

"What kind of clown is he?" Jupiter asked, her voice teetering on nearly inaudible.

"There are different kinds?" Mars asked. By now her mind had completely escaped her, the idea that she'd be entertaining the conversation about types of clowns despicable in any other circumstance. However, the sun had a tarnishing effect on her judgment, one that had left her open to anything and everything despite how ridiculous.

"Yeah," Jupiter replied meekly. "There's the killer clown _It_ and there's the friendly clown _Bozo_. I personally prefer the friendly clown, if there must be a clown…"

"Ahh," Mars hummed in a meditative state as if achieving enlightenment. "I get it now."

"So, Minako-chan, what kind is it?"

Minako squinted her eyes to try and get a better view but she just couldn't manage. Defeated, she sighed.

"He's too far to tell."

Minako's body was nearly limp on Jupiter's back, red and green glowing simultaneously to unravel the supernatural uniforms. Both Mars and Jupiter had reached their limit, their civilian forms softly landing in the padded sand. Their eyes were tempting them to rest, Makoto and Rei unable to resist any longer. Staring blankly towards the sky, Minako blinked inquisitively when the painted face of a curious man poked into her frame of sight.

"Guys," she mumbled hoarsely, her hand blindly reaching to try and shake one of them until she simply gave up. "He's definitely a _Bozo_."

**Thank you for reading. I hope you feel inclined to review. Next will be Mercury and Moon's landings.**

**Again, thank you for reading.**

**Disclaimer:**

_I don't own Sailor Moon or Naruto._


	2. Chapter 2

"Ehh?" The young man sounded, his ego somewhat suffering from the strange comment made by the strange girl lying in the middle of their own desert with very little clothing on. At first when he had seen her reaching to tap her friends, he thought she was trying to warn them but upon hearing the phrase that escaped her parched lips he had seen that she just wanted their attention for what she was about to tell them.

His subordinates snickered at the girl's words and he shot a dangerous glare at them that immediately silenced their laughter. He was certain they didn't know what she meant either but by the sound of it; it couldn't have been a compliment.

A Bozo? He had never even heard such a term, the frown on his face deepening as he contemplated its origins. Bozo. Ack, he grimaced. It didn't even feel nice to say it as his mouth felt inflamed with the pronunciations of the vowel sounds. She was definitely trying to insult him! How unbelievable! Here she lay, helpless, distressed and clearly incapable of saving herself and all she could do before escaping into an unconscious stupor that more than likely led to death, was to insult him? Perhaps she wanted to die. Perhaps he should just leave her and her friends in the desert to shrivel until the sands buried their corpses in a tombstone that was probable to never be found within the centuries of mere humans.

He groaned, scratching the back of his head in dismay. For some reason his conscience had chosen a funny time to present itself, guilt washing through him immediately after his previous thought. They looked harmless but experience taught him never to underestimate a person based on appearance…or ever really. Besides, it was not a normal occurrence to find strangers wandering their desert without some type of hidden agenda. Still…three girls without water, dressed in skimpy clothes that resembled an array of sleepwear who had fainted miles from their village hardly seemed to hold some genius underlying plot to threaten the Red Sand. He frowned again; arms crossed over his chest feeling tempted almost to rub his chin in thought.

What was there to gain by passing out in the middle of the desert in the middle of the day? Hn, what was there to gain by aiding the three and taking them to the village other than sore muscles and unnecessary exhaustion? After all, this was a desert, one that is certainly difficult to miss so traveling without the necessary precautions was irresponsible and simply stupid. By this fact alone, these females did not deserve relief! He frowned again, an invisible Angel perching on his shoulder in a scolding manner.

He rolled his eyes, huffing in discontent and finally making a decision.

"Grab one," he demanded gruffly, reaching grudgingly for the blonde. "We're taking them back to the village."

* * *

A deep groan of uncertainty escaped the mind-locked female as the hum of voices slowly started to echo in her ears. She rubbed her head with intention to sooth the throbbing against her skull but it seemed useless, her head feeling as though it weighed about three times as much as usual. The hums of voices then ceased, a small breeze picking up beside her. She was grateful for the silence, especially since it seemed to ease a bit of the tension in her head.

She exhaled, her eyes now prying to get open. With effort, she managed to move the task along, her fuzzy vision squinting skeptically at the jagged outline of a blonde blue-eyed character.

She felt confused, something not quite familiar tarnishing her perception of the poorly defined person whose face was dangerously close to her own.

"U-," she rasped, "Usagi?"

Panic struck her faster than she could even realize as a voice far from her friend's sounded from the figure directly in front of her. With a jolted heart, her body reacted rather callously, a closed fist slamming instinctively into the cheek of the still unclear male, as she assumed he was male by the sound of his voice. However, her reaction didn't stop there.

She hastily threw her legs over the edge of what she now saw was a hospital bed and ignored the rising questions of how or when she got there. Feeling panic achingly increasing as the previous day's strange occurrence rushed to her mind, she began a foggy search for her friends.

"H-Hey! Come back here!" She heard behind her, knees shaking as her legs feebly carried her in a frantic sprint. With her vision clearing she drank in her new surroundings, the gray walls fresh with paint as she tried to figure out what type of place this was.

Hospitals back home were usually white with bright lights but something about this place seemed much more primitive in comparison as natural light filtered in through wooden window plaques and metal casings lined the walls until leading to old fashioned light fixtures. Were they thrown into a time loop? Did they travel to the past?

Whatever it was, she'd have to figure it out _after_ she found her friends and escaped the sure to be furious male that was hovering over her face just a few seconds ago.

She skidded to a halt when a puff of smoke appeared in front of her, a white-haired male emerging laxly with just one eye in clear sight.

"Yo!" He smiled with a wave and a hand in his pocket.

Ami nearly fell of a heart-attack, her mind cursing her luck. So these weren't ordinary captors. She might have to fend for herself with the power of Mercury. Instinctually she reached into her subspace pockets in search of her transformation pen but could find nothing. This just wasn't her day.

Before he could make any more movement towards her, she swiftly changed directions. Desperately, her mind raced with apprehension as she tried to figure out how she would find the others.

_Think. Think! THINK!_

She halted, an angry boy about her age breathing heavily in front of her as he blocked the hall. Ami frowned.

"Hey!" He griped, pointing at her. "You've got some nerve hitting me like that and running off! The least you could do is stay and fight me instead of running after you land a cheap shot!"

Ami's frown deepened, feeling unjustly accused as her calculating eyes continued to scour for a clean escape.

"Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps you would have never received such a blunt hit had you not been a pervert?" She felt a bit strange asking the question. Especially since she didn't really think he was a pervert and the more she looked at him the more she felt that she might have misjudged the situation. After all, these strangers had taken her to their infirmary and cared for her. If they were enemies would they have treated her the same way? So as her suspicions began receding, she felt the embarrassment of her possibly descripted reaction as an "overreaction" filing through her. Still, he shouldn't have been hovering so close to her when she had absolutely no idea who he was. So she was justified in that sense!

"Pervert?" He wailed, very much like her friend Usagi though much more aggressive. "I am not a pervert!"

"So it is normal for a stranger to put their face to a sleeping patients face?"

The blond boy winced. It was true. Sometimes he forgot about boundaries and peoples' cherished personal spaces but it wasn't because he was a pervert! He was just overtly curious and could never quite use his brain quick enough to do the most socially accepted thing like stay back a few inches until the strange new mystery girl was able to wake up and accept her new surroundings. He just wanted to see…well…he didn't know what he wanted to see. He just thought that by hovering so close to her face he'd be able to find some hidden secret and solve the many mysteries surrounding the blue-haired patient and her friend. But no, instead he received a well-endowed fist to his cheek that sent him flying into a wall. It almost felt like he had been hit by a solid block of ice.

"I-" He paused, "I!" He growled, shaking his fist. Honestly, how was he supposed to come back after that one?

"Naruto!"

He quickly straightened up at the familiar voice, scalding green eyes piercing through him as he changed from shaking fists to scratching his head nervously.

"Uh, Tsunade-sama," he acknowledged. "What're you doing here?"

She huffed. "I leave you to watch the patient for one moment and you've already made a mess of things."

"Wha-?" He yelped, wide-eyed and indignant. "She punched me and—"

"I don't want to hear your excuses, Naruto!" Tsunade reprimanded. "This could be considered lower than a C-ranked mission and you were still incapable of following through. You should be ashamed."

From the side, Ami watched with uncertainty. Like a strict mother, this "Tsunade" character had instilled fear in this Naruto who whined on his own behalf. Still, she couldn't help but laugh a little bit at how much Naruto reminded her of Usagi.

She gasped.

Usagi!

She must've made a highly perceivable expression because the once loud Naruto had quieted down instantaneously as both he and Tsunade had turned their eyes to her. She gulped, not quite sure what she should do.

Skeptically, Tsunade examined her. Naruto in his blind rage was completely oblivious of the unique energy emanating from this quiet patient and for the moment, Tsunade was unsure whether she liked this energy or not. Regardless, this girl had appeared from nowhere and the last thing she could do was underestimate her.

"Naruto," she stated sternly, the boy jumping at the sound of her voice. "Take her back to her room and this time, don't disappoint me."

Naruto winced, nodding obediently as he went to nudge Ami towards her room. With a frown the blue-haired genius refused, stepping with intent to act against Tsunade's orders.

"Are you crazy?" She heard Naruto mutter under his breath as if to warn her. Still Ami ignored him.

It all came at once. Fear attacked Ami like she had never felt before in her life, her body shaking as Tsunade gave that deadly glare over her shoulder. The blonde haired woman seemed to grow into a giant, an eerie black aura rippling from her devilish eyes in the shape of a menacing demon behind her. Naruto shrunk back with an apprehensive squeal, much unlike his prior anger-filled self, and Ami was left stunned, gulping down anxiety as she quickly regretted her attempt to refuse this woman.

"Is there a problem?" Tsunade asked, her threatening aura pulsing in magnificent waves of blood-lust.

Ami slowly bobbed her head, then shook it, then bobbed again. Still combatting her urge to just drop her intent all together.

"I…" she drifted. "I didn't come…alone…I think…"

She gulped afterwards, realizing immediately how her phrase had many implications that she might have been some type of spy or something. Feeling sick, she wished she could take back her statement and follow Naruto back to her room where she could figure out another escape. After all, if this Naruto was truly like Usagi, then Ami was more than certain she could outsmart him in no time.

The moment of silence afterwards proved most intimidating. Ami couldn't tell which type of interpretation the woman took on her phrase and as an aching reminder, her hands again turned up empty when she tried to summon her transformation pen.

Both Ami and Naruto sighed in relief when a charcoal-mane appeared beside Tsunade, his eyes lazily looking to them before lazily drifting to Tsunade. His presence seemed to distract her enough so that her scary manifestation of fear instilling power had dissipated somewhat. He yawned, a hand covering his mouth until a huge sigh escaped.

"It was troublesome, but I found an old book," he murmured almost sleepily.

Tsunade didn't waste time with listening to more.

"Good," she replied, resuming her exit steps as she and the newcomer left Ami and Naruto in the hall as though nothing had happened.

The two again released their pent up breath and sighed. Not even a second later, a loud _SMACK_ sounded through the hall.

Ami gasped, gripping her head in shock as her eyes shot over to the blond boy now known as Naruto.

"What-what the hell?" She didn't curse often or even use that phrase. But it seemed appropriate given the unexpected blow to the head and his seemingly guiltless expression.

He shook his fist at her angrily.

"Idiot!" He yelled, "I told you not to do that. The old bat coulda killed us!"

Ami frowned, slowly feeling something damn near hatred bridling towards this new acquaintance. Hadn't he ever learned that a boy should never hit a girl? She grimaced, this kid hardly seemed to have a single fiber of decency in his body so it was pointless to expect that he would be above hitting a girl. If Ami had her transformation pen then she would make him sorry for hitting her.

"Besides," he growled, "I owed you one anyways after you punched me first!"

"You deserved it," Ami retaliated quite unlike herself. She didn't like childish banter but it seemed like it was the only kind of conversation this boy was actually capable of carrying. If she attempted any other type of communication apart from violence, she was sure it would just go right over his head.

He growled again, reaffirming to Ami that he was part of the primitive male species just above Neanderthals that used violence as a main means of interaction along with the simplest form of language.

"Give me more trouble and I'll make you sorry."

She frowned, sizing up his fist and the determined look in his eyes. She was willing to bet he'd have no trouble hitting her again if given the opportunity and for that she started to despise him. Displeased by the situation, she indignantly turned on her heel with folded arms and headed back in the direction of her room.

* * *

Surprise covered her features at the pull of the curtain. There, snoring in all her infamous glory, lay the pigtailed blonde with drool ceremoniously lining the corner of her lips to her ear.

"Usagi," Ami muttered. Relief was present, but she scolded herself for being so blind.

This whole time Usagi was right next to her, separated by a mere curtain. She felt her intellect suffer with insecurity as she wondered how she could have gone without noticing that distinctive snore that she remembered from those times the girls had all decided to sleep over at the shrine. One time Rei had even filmed Usagi in her sleep, threatening to expose the rabbit's embarrassing sleep habits if Usagi didn't get her Arithmetic grade to at least a C.

Ami had thought it was a cruel way to blackmail her, but then again she had never seen Usagi work so hard on her studies. Day and night Usagi begged Ami to tutor her and Ami was proud of the effort her blonde friend had invested. However, it was a truly sad moment for Ami when Usagi returned with bright cheerful eyes and a grade of 70.2 percent. Where Ami was mortified by the barely passing grade after all those grueling hours of study and tutoring, Usagi was more than pleased.

With a heavy sigh, Ami seated herself carefully at the edge of her friend's bed who seemed to be engulfed in a delightful dream as she smiled and giggled like a carefree girl.

"Where did you find her?"

"Huh?" Naruto looked up, surprised that Ami had broken her silent-treatment tactic to ask him a question. He sympathized for her when noticing the concern she had while looking at her unconscious friend and thought it wouldn't hurt to tell her what she wanted to know.

"Well, Old man Keigo found you two in his rice patty and poked her awake with a stick. Then, how did he put it?" He mused, tapping his chin in recollection. "Then he said she took off like a scared rodent and completely forgot about you. Old man Keigo took you inside because you looked like his daughter and tried to take care of some of your cuts. Some hours later he said that she came to get you but he refused to give you up. She kept trying to steal you from him but was unsuccessful. Eventually she left and Old man Keigo thought she was gone for sure. But I guess she hid in one of the rice bags he had in the shed and he carried her in not knowing she was there. When he fell asleep she took you and fled into the forbidden forest."

Ami laughed, shaking her head at the tall-tale. Though it seemed hilarious, she knew it was not out of Usagi's character. Especially in a place where they both had little to no working knowledge of their surroundings.

"So you found her in the forest," Ami prodded.

"Not exactly," Naruto answered. "The forest is filled with many dangerous creatures and plants. Our guess is, she went in there and met up with some of the wildlife. She was beat up pretty good when we found you two at the edge of the forest. She carried you as best she could and it looked like she took a lot of blows on your behalf to keep you safe. It was a miracle really that she survived."

Ami gulped down a wave of guilt, her eyes cast to the floor in shame. Before they were plunged into an unexpected wormhole, she vaguely remembered receiving some hard hits from the enemy. She had intercepted it first and the others had only just arrived before they ended up getting sucked out of their world into this one.

Still, she should have been there for Usagi instead of being a burden on the person she was supposed to protect. She had trouble swallowing her bruised pride and sighed in discontent as she mulled around in her own mind.

"Thank you," she almost whispered beneath her breath, not daring to look up as she said it.

"Huh?" Naruto was again surprised. He examined her as she sulked and shook his head. She sure was a weird one. Didn't she know that she was a prisoner by now? It was not every day that patients were watched by shinobi as they recovered. Surely she should have known that! He shrugged, thinking nothing more of the situation and completely closed off to thought that these two could have arrived from a completely different world.

Only one thing was certain. Tsunade gave him a mission and he was determined not to screw that up again.

* * *

Thank you for reading. As you may or may not know, this story is sort of my least priority story so it will most likely not be finished for quite some time. I apologize for the delay but Naruto is still new ground for me so I have no idea where in the Naruto-verse I am doing this in heh. So it'll probably be a while for me to work out those details. Anyhow, thank you for your time and consideration. As always, comments and concerns are graciously welcomed!

DollFace: Thank you for your review! I'm so glad you liked the first chapter. Hopefully Kankuro's reaction was decent ^^: Again thank you for reading and reviewing!

SilverMidnightKitten: Thank you for your review! As of now I don't really have any couples in mind. It may turn out to be friendship development only but couples are always a possibility. I am curious though what types of Naruto/SM pairings are preferred. I myself don't really have any. So, feel free to let me know! It would be interesting to hear about it ^^ Again thank you for reading and reviewing!

P.S. This is intended to be a crack-fic mostly. ^^

**4Shame**


End file.
